All the guests up make three changes in an effort to save a series
Tilg: Sri Lanka bat selection vs England
Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal won the toss and chose to bat in the second Test in Galle. Chandimal said he expected the pitch for the second Test to be better for batting than the surface for the first game. In any case, teams virtually choose to bat first at this venue, as the playing field tends to crumble abruptly late in the Test.
England had confirmed the same change on this XI, avoiding Stuart Broad, who was the best sailor in the first game, to James Anderson, their most successful bowman. Their attack will also feature Mark Wood and Sam Curran, as well as spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, made three changes – including Oshada Fernando for the Kusal Mendis out of form, as lead sailor Suranga Lakmal also entered the XI miss. the last three Tests due to injury. He replaced Wanindu Hasaranga, who won his legs.
Renowned player Ramesh Mendis makes his debut for Sri Lanka, eliminating Dasun Shanaka from the seam bowling pitch from the XI. Mendis, 25, averages 43.46 with the bat in first-class cricket, and has made several good performances for Sri Lanka A.
Sri Lanka need to win this game to draw the series.
Sri Lanka: 1 Lahiru Thirimanne, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Oshada Fernando, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (capt.), 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 7 Ramesh Mendis, 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 Lasith Embuldeniya 11 Asitha Fernando
England: 1 Dom Sibley, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Jonny Bairstow, 4 Joe Root (capt.), 5 Dan Lawrence, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Sam Curran, 8 Dom Bess, 9 Jack Leach, 10 James Anderson, 11 Marc Wood